Courses

• QST MK 856: Consumer Behavior
  Marketing, in particular, begins and ends with the consumer -- from determining consumer needs to ensuring customer satisfaction. In this course, we will explore the most recent scientific research in marketing, psychology, and behavioral economics related to consumer behavior. We will develop your ability to understand and influence what people want, how people decide what and when to buy, and whether people will be satisfied or dissatisfied with their decisions. These psychological insights are particularly useful for marketing strategy, brand positioning, and marketing communication decisions, but also yield insight into common biases in judgment and decision making, beyond marketing, to which you would otherwise fall prey. Why people are willing to drive across town to save $5 on a tank of gasoline, for example, when they would not drive a minute to save $5 on a refrigerator. We will discuss some of these applications in class. In addition, we will examine the methodology of market research (specific to consumer behavior) to build the tools you will need to interpret and base decisions on it. Readings will include primary empirical research articles (e.g., Journal of Consumer Research articles), business journal articles, and research reviews (e.g., Harvard Business Review articles). The course includes lecture, discussion, an exam, and a team term project.
• QST MK 857: Services Marketing and Management
  This course concentrates on the role of marketing in managing services. Services have the fastest job growth of any sector in the U.S. with similar growth rates in other developed countries. The strategic application of marketing requires cross-functional integration; this is particularly true when one speaks about the marketing of services. You should expect to be addressing human resource, information management, operational, and financial overlaps with marketing throughout the course. The strategic focus includes leadership and culture, management of supplementary vs. core services, service communities, positioning and contrary positioning (breaking industry traditions), service failures (customer defection, employee cycle of failure, and customer apartheid. The primary course assignment is an end-of-semester service analysis and recommendation paper; students are encouraged to analyze a company or SBU where they would like to work in the future. This paper has served as an entryway to a desired job for students in the past.
• QST MK 859: Business Marketing
  This course provides an in-depth understanding of the unique aspects of marketing in a business-to-business environment. Students apply current marketing theory and techniques to industrial market settings. In addition, they develop managerial skills in the marketing planning and execution process, as well as critical analysis and problem-solving abilities with respect to marketing working relationships. The course allows participants to experiment with and apply strategic marketing concepts in a complex industrial marketing environment. Topics covered include the dynamics of relationships between suppliers and customers, the increasing reliance on the marketing-/R&D interface, the structuring of alliances between so-called competitors, and the process of negotiations - to better understand how organizations endeavor to become and stay market-oriented. The course has some guest speakers and an interactive marketing simulation.
• QST MK 862: Marketing High-Tech Products
  This course provides you with a good understanding of how marketing works in a high-tech context. When it comes to marketing, there are five important characteristics that make high-tech offerings (products and services) special: technological uncertainty, customer uncertainty, competitor volatility, high- tech offerings are often used not singly but in larger overall systems, and high-tech offerings often exhibit network externalities. These five characteristics have a big impact on the type of challenges, analysis, and marketing decisions made in high-tech industries. The overall purpose of this course is to impart concepts, tools, and frameworks that you can apply as you pursue careers as marketers of high-tech offerings, consultants, investment bankers, and service professionals. The key objectives of the course are to: Understand the special challenges involved in marketing high-tech products Learn how to analyze high-tech marketing problems which involve significant customer, market, and technological uncertainties; Examine approaches to improve the market orientation of, and the marketing-R&D interface in, high-tech companies; Understand the impact of diffusion of technology and adoption of innovation on targeting and segmentation decisions; Explore the effect of complementary products, databases, and systems on product and pricing decisions; Identify the challenges and drivers of success at different stages in a technology's life- cycle; and, Understand the concept of value networks and the role of complementors, partners, and competitors in high-tech industries.
• QST MK 864: Pricing Strategy and Tactics
  This course focuses on the practical needs of the marketing manager making pricing decisions. Students learn the techniques of strategic analysis necessary to price more profitably by evaluating the price sensitivity of buyers, determining relevant costs, anticipating and influencing competitors' pricing and formulating an appropriate pricing strategy.
• QST MK 867: Marketing Social Change
  Globalization, increasing transparency in business operations and the prevalence of social media have forever changed the way stakeholders view and interact with organizations. Societal and business imperatives are not only often considered compatible; they can be increasingly viewed as one and the same. People today often communicate, organize and engage based on mutual interests, and, generally, place greater trust in organizations and individuals that work for a better world. Marketing has often been referred to as the "science of sales." Whether you are selling a product, an intervention or an idea, it can be a powerful tool for advancing social change in today's dynamic environment. The strategic integration of a relevant social purpose into a product, business or nonprofit organization through brand-building citizenship activities can drive consumer and donor recall, consideration, acquisition, retention and propensity to recommend. However, these efforts do not usually constitute a "silver bullet" and may not be the best solution to a business problem or societal need at all. In the worst cases, ill-conceived citizenship marketing strategies can result in damaging consequences. Practitioners must be pragmatic when engaging in marketing social change. Understanding how to apply best practice, identify opportunities, address challenges, engage stakeholders and innovate strategically are essential skills in this rapidly evolving sector. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of how marketing principles can be applied to create both short-term and lasting social change. Students will explore dimensions of the modern landscapes of brand, corporate and nonprofit "citizenship" and how they relate to marketing. Areas of study include: cause-related marketing and cause branding; nonprofit branding and social movements, as well as corporate social responsibility and shared value creation.
• QST MK 875: Retailing and Omni-Channel Marketing
  This course provides the student with a comprehensive view of the activities involved in retailing and omni?]channel marketing from a consumer?]facing perspective. We will study key retailing decisions, including selection of retail site locations, merchandising, pricing, store management, layout, and design, and customer service and experience management both within the bricks and mortar setting as well as online and by phone. We will also explore the global nature of supply chain management in retail strategy and operations. We will examine how technology impacts these decisions--including mobile capabilities and effect on retailer pricing strategies, fast fashion, and the need to manage and coordinate service across multiple channels.
• QST MK 898: Directed Study: Marketing
  Graduate-level directed study in Marketing. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Program Office website.
• QST MK 914: Seminar in Consumer Behavior
  This course is designed to familiarize students with the current major theoretical streams of research in consumer behavior. It is meant to instill in the student not only a knowledge of the current "state of the art" in consumer behavior research, but also an ability to apply behavioral science theory to consumer behavior research issues. It is expected that students will develop and refine the ability both to critically evaluate the theoretical contribution of articles in consumer behavior and to formulate theory-based hypotheses capable of advancing the discipline's understanding of consumer behavior.
• QST MK 915: Consumer Behavior II
  Because firms that excel in developing deep insight into consumer behavior create and capture more value in the marketplace, it is critical for researchers to establish a strong foundation in consumer research. The present course serves as a companion to the MK914: Seminar in Consumer Behavior I, and considers what some have called "The Cultural Interpretivist Turn" in Marketing. This perspective calls for a broader conceptualization of the discipline, with greater attention to - phenomena and dynamics at the socio-cultural level, under-leveraged theoretical perspectives beyond psychology and economics, and grounded methodologies capable of situating consumer behavior in the context of people's lives. Topics include but are not limited to: Myth and Cultural Narratives; Semiotics; Materialism; Consumer-Brand Relationships; Consumer Socialization; Sub-Cultures of Gender, Lifestyle, Ethnicity, and Social Class; Communities and Tribes; Illicit Pleasures, Addictions, and High Risk Consumption; Politics of Consumption; and Consumer Well-Being.
• QST MK 927: Marketing Management and the Customer-Focused Firm
  This course will familiarize doctoral students with various areas of investigation for problem-oriented academic marketing research pertinent to the research mission of the department: advancing the customer-focused firm. Discussion topics include but are not limited to the following strategies for gaining strategic advantage through the cultivation of marketing relationships: branding and brand equity, pricing, sales, customer relationship management and CRM, consumer-company identification, corporate social responsibility, consumer-to-consumer relationships and brand communities, retailing and customer service, product innovation, and product launch strategy. Through exposure to a strategic marketing perspective for the identification of research problem areas, this course will further socialize students into the process of developing research ideas and undertaking research, while stimulating the development of ideas for summer projects, qualifying papers, and dissertations.
• QST MK 929: Marketing Management and the Customer-Focused Firm II
  This course builds on material presented in MK927 to familiarize doctoral students with various areas of investigation for problem-oriented academic marketing research pertinent to the research mission of the department: advancing the customer-focused firm. Discussion topics concern strategies for gaining competitive advantage and include: establishing a market orientation, product strategy, product innovation and new product development, brand design and product aesthetics, co-creation and mass customization, pricing strategy, sales promotions, corporate social responsibility, cause marketing, stakeholder marketing, and the measurement of firm and marketing performance. Through exposure to a strategic marketing perspective for the identification of research problem areas, this course will further socialize students into the process of developing research ideas and undertaking research, while stimulating the development of ideas for summer projects, qualifying papers, and dissertations.
• QST MK 998: Directed Study: Marketing
  PhD-level directed study in Marketing. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Program Office website.
• QST MS 600: Msms Launch
  
• QST MS 711: Diagnosing Organizations
  This course provides an introduction to the tools and data that constitute an analytical lens on organizational challenges and opportunities. Learning vehicles include computer simulations, exercises, case studies, discussion, teamwork, and a client consulting project.
• QST MS 712: Customers and Markets
  This course serves as a foundation for understanding how the organization must align to deliver a value proposition for customers in an increasingly competitive and fragmented marketplace. Learning vehicles include computer simulations, readings, exercises, case studies, discussion, teamwork, and a client consulting project.
• QST MS 713: Financial Decision Making
  This course introduces the economic concepts that underlie the fundamentals of finance, risk and tradeoffs. Learning vehicles include computer simulations, exercises, case studies, discussion, teamwork, and a client consulting project.
• QST MS 714: Career: Strategy and Skills
  This course focuses on the strategy and tactics of assessing individuals' professional fit, pursuing career opportunities, and managing the process of finding a job. Emphasis will be on understanding individual strengths and weaknesses, taking inventory of work style (MBTI), writing resumes, creating career profile, networking and interviewing.
• QST MS 719: Client Consulting Project A
  The project uses a mentored team structure to analyze, investigate and deliver value for a company client. The focus will be on understanding multiple aspects of a company's performance relative to the competition and identifying key recommendations for improving results.
• QST MS 721: Communicating in Teams
  This workshop takes an in-depth look at individual and group communication by establishing principles of communications and using hands-on exercises to practice effective presentation, speaking with impact, and writing to influence.

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